Method of making a soft sole shoe



Jan. 27, 1970 A. E. GREENBLATT ETAL 3,491,390

METHOD oF MAKING A SOFT SOLE sHoE A Y Filed Feb. 8, 1968 4 Sheets-Sheet l Jan. 27, 1970 A. E.A GREENBLATT ET AL METHOD OF MAKING A SOFT SOLE SHOE 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Feb. e, 196e Jan. 27, 1970 A, E, GREEN'BLATT ETAL 3,491,390

METHOD OF MAKING A SOFT SOLE SHOE Filed Feb. s, 1968 4 sheets-sheet s Jan. 27, 1970 A. E. GREENBLATT Ef AL 3,491,390

METHD 0F MAKING A SOFT SOLE SHOE Filed Feb. e, 'ls 4 sneets-sheet 4 United States Patent O 3,491,390 METHOD F MAKING A SOFT SOLE SHOE Allan E. Greenblatt, Great Neck, and David H. Greenblatt, Roslyn, NX., assignors to American Felt Slipper Co., Inc., New York, N.Y., a corporation of New York Filed Feb. 8, 1968, Ser. No. 704,089 Int. Cl. H43d 11/10 U.S. Cl. 12-142 6 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Upper components for a soft sole type slipper construction are attached together and secured to a sole member. A shock lining is stitched to the sole over the upper components with a turning aperture being left through which the stitched assembly is turned inside out. A fibrous platform member and a heel element are inserted through the turning aperture and the turning aperture is then closed by stitching or other means. The upper components are then turned over the toe portion of the slipper to form the iinished slipper with all secured edges being completely folded in so as to occur in concealed relationship.

This invention relates to a shoe construction and method of making same. More particularly, the invention is concerned with an improved slipper of the soft sole platform type, together with a novel method of assembling the several components making up the shoe.

It is a chief object of the invention to provide an improved soft sole slipper construction and to devise a novel method of assembling and securing together a plurality of slipper components.

A further specific object 0f the invention is to devise a soft sole slipper construction in which the seams on both the open toe and open heel portion of the slipper are inverted with all raw edges being concealed.

vAnother object of the invention is to provide an open toe and open heel soft sole slipper construction having an inserted platform and around which sOle portions of the slipper are secured by means of concealed stitching.

Still another object of the invention is to devise a method of assembling slipper components in which partially assembled slipper components are secured together in a reversed position and thereafter turned over upon themselves to provide a platform receiving body and vamp portions of the slipper are then turned after the platform has been inserted.

The nature of the invention and its other objects and novel features will be more fully appreciated from the following description of preferred embodiments of the invention selected for purposes of illustration and shown in the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of the finished soft sole slipper construction of the invention;

FIGURE 2 is a longitudinal cross section taken on the line 2-2 of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a transverse cross section taken on the line 3-3 of FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 4 is a plan view illustrating upper components secured together with an elastic gore and representing preliminary assembly steps in making the slipper construction of the invention;

FIGURE 5 is another plan view illustrating a further step of attaching a heel wrapper element;

FIGURE 6 is a cross section taken on the line 6-6 of FIGURE 5;

FIGURE 7 is a side elevational view showing the assembly illustrated in FIGURE 5 further attached to a sole member;

FIGURE 8 is a cross section taken on the llne 8-8 of FIGURE 7 3,491,390 Patented Jan. 27, 1970 ICC FIGURE 9 is an elevational view illustrating the step of separately preparing a sock lining with stitched heel pad and toe pad element;

FIGURE 10 is a plan View illustrating the step of attaching the sock lining to one side of the sole assembly illustrated in FIGURE 7;

FIGURE 11 is aside elevational view further illustrating the attached sole assembly and sock lining and indicating an unstitched portion and which defines an opening;

FIGURE 12 is a plan view of the sole and sock assembly illustrated in FIGURE 1l having been turned insid out;

FIGURE 13 is a side elevational view illustrating the turned assembly of FIGURE 12 and further illustrating a platform and heel filler prior to insertion in the unstitched opening indicated;

FIGURE 14 is a side elevational view of the slipper assembly of FIGURE 13 as it appears after the platform and heel filler have been inserted and the opening secured by stitching; and

FIGURE 15 is a bottom plan view of the assembly illustrated in FIGURE 14 prior to being turned for the second time to provide the finished shoe illustrated in FIGURE 1.

In accordance with the invention We have conceived of a method of making a soft sole shoe in which a plurality of shoe components are successively secured together and subjected to two turning operations with a reinforcing platform and heel assembly being introduced after one turning operation has been carried out but before the second turning is accomplished. The invention in one preferred embodiment may comprise a slipper construction. However, it will be understood that the structural features and method employed may be desired to be practiced in making other types of footwear.

Considering in greater detail the preferred method of making a slipper, attention is directed to the drawings in which FIGURES 1 to 3 illustrate a fully completed slipper and FIGURES 4 to 15 inclusive illustrate various steps carried out in making the -nished slipper. In starting assembly of slipper components we iirst provide a composite upper component which preferably may take the form of a vamp portion for the slipper and which may be made from various materials such as leather, plastic, rubber fabrics and the like. In one desirable arrangement we may utilize a laminated upper material consisting of an outer side of leather-like vinyl compound laminated with a thin fibrous backing, an intermediate layer of rubber-like foam and an inner fabric lining.

The laminated upper material described may, for example, be formed into inner and outer vamp parts as 2 and 4 and yieldably secured together by means of an elastic gore or connecting part 6 as illustrated in FIG- URES 4, 5 and 7. A desirable effect may also be realized by turning over edges of the vinyl leather parts onto respective fabric lined edges and applying lines of stitching as 7 and 8 to form finished turned edges 10 and 12.

As shown in FIGURE 4 the elastic gore 6 is stitched or otherwise secured against fabric lined surfaces of various parts 14 and 16, of vamp parts 2 and 4, and portions of one of the vamp elements. FIGURE 4 is broken away to indicate the laminated foam and fabric construction described above.

As further illustrated in FIGURE 5, the yieldably connected vamp parts 2 and 4 are thereafter attached to a fabric lined leather-like vinyl heel wrapper element. The heel wrapper element is generally denoted by the arrow 18 and presents a leather-like surface 18a and a fabric surface 18h. In applying this heel Wrapper element 18, it is pointed out that the leather surface 18a of the heel Wrapper extremities are stitched against the leather-like surface of respective adjacent vamp parts.

The next step in the method of the invention consists in applying a sole member to the assembly shown in FIG- URE 5 and FIGURE 7 is intended to illustrate a sole member '20 which is formed with a leather-like surface 20a and a fabric covered surface 20b. This sole member consists of a flexible leather-like vinyl material corresponding to the upper component material and its surface 20a is stitched to the edges of the vamp components and to a lowed edge of the heel wrapper element 18 as is illustrated in FIGURE 7 so that the fabric surface 20h is exposed at the outside of the assembly. The resulting arrangement of parts is further illustrated in cross seciton in FIG- URE 8.

FIGURE 9 illustrates a step of separately forming a sock lining by providing a sole shaped fabric covered layer of foam with heel and toe pads stitched thereto. Arrow 22 indicates the sock lining generally. Numeral 22a indicates the fabric covered side of the sock lining and 22b indicates the foam side of the sock lining. Numeral 24 denotes a toe pad and numeral 26 denotes a heel pad. These heel pad elements are made of the same leather-like vinyl material already described and are secured by rows of stitching as 24a and 26a.

In FIGURES 10 and 11 we have illustrated the next step of attaching the sock lining of FIGURE 9 to the assembly of parts iluustrated in FIGURE 7. It will -be observed that the sock lining element 22 is superimposed on top of the assembly of FIGURE 7 in a manner such that the reversed upper components 2 and 4, and elastic gore are completely covered over by fabric surface 22a of thesock lining member and the foam surface 22b thus occurs externally as best shown in FIGURE 11. Adjacent edges of the parts are then stitched together with the stitching being interrupted along a portion of the edges to define a turning aperture 30 and this turning aperture 30 at opposite ends is secured by anchor stitches 32 and 34.

At this point a first turning operation is carried out to provide a turned assembly as illustrated in FIGURES 12 and 13. The turning operation is accomplished by turning inside out first a toe portion and then a heel portion of the shoe assembly through the turning aperture 30 so that the leather-like surface 20a of the sole now becomes exposed at the outside of the assembly While the fabric covered surfaces 14 and 16 of the vamp components remain in a reversed or an outwardly disposed position.

With the shoe assembly in the turned position described, and with the turning aperture 30 still open as shown in FIGURE 13, We then insert a reinforcing platform element 36, together with a reinforcing heel element 38, through the turning aperture 30 to thus constitute a sole support which becomes fitted snugly against the fabric lined surface b of the sole member 20 beneath the sock lining 22. After the heel and platform elements have been inserted and properly positioned, the turning aperture 30 may be closed by stitching, cement or other fastening means and FIGURES 14 and 15 disclose rows of suitable stitching 40 which close the turning aperture 30. It should be understood that the turning aperture 30 may be of varying sizes and if desired we may wish to have a turning aperture on each of the two sides of the shoe assembly of FIGURE 11.

A final step consists in turning the assembly shown in FIGURES 14 and 15 in a manner such that the yieldably held upper components are stretched apart and turned inside out over the toe portion of the shoe assembly of FIGURES 14 and 15 and this results in the final finished shoe illustrated in FIGURES 1 to 3 inclusive at which point the leather-like surfaces of the upper components become outwardly disposed. It will be noted that by turning the upper components over the toe of the slipper after the stitching 40 has been applied, it becomes possible to completely cover the stitching in concealed relation. It will also be observed that in this finally turned position all of the joined edges are secured together in a folded-in concealed manner which provides a shoe having an unusually finished appearance at all points around the sole and heel and exposed toe and heel pads on the sock lining.

While I have disclosed the invention in one preferred slipper form, I may also desire to practice the invention in various modiiied'ways and I may desire to utilize a range of materials and fastening means and resort to other' changes.

I claim:

1. In a method of making a soft sole shoe the steps which include stitching together edges of a sole member, a sock lining and an upper component disposed between the sole and sock lining With two adjacent edge portions of the sole and sock lining being left in spaced apart relation to dene a turning aperture, turning toe and heel portions of the sole and sock lining through the turning aperture to reverse the stitched assembly and locate stitched edges inside the sole and sock lining assembly in concealed relationship, closing the turning aperture and then turning the upper component over the toe portions of the sole and sock lining to locate the upper component in the t-op side of the shoe.

2. A method according toA claim 1 in Which the sock lining is attached to heel and toe pads prior to being stitched to the sole member.

3. A method according to claim 1 in which the upper component is attached to the sole member and a heel upper element before the sock lining is applied.

4. A method according to claim 1 in which the upper component is secured to an elastic retaining element before being stitched to the sole.

5. In a method of making a shoe, the steps which include attaching an elastic element to a pair of shoe upper components, securing the upper components and elastic element in a lreversed position to a heel wrapper member and to edges of the outer Wearing surface of a sole member, superimposing a fabric covered sock lining upon the upper components, heel Wrapper and sole member and stitched together edges of the sock lining, the heel Wrapper member and sole throughout portions of the edges to define a turning aperture, turning the sock lining and sole and heel wrapper inside out by forcing the toe and heel portions thereof through the turning aperture, inserting a platform and heel support element through the turning aperture, securing together edges of the upper and sole which constitute the turning aperture, and then turning the upper component and elastic element over the sole into a normal Wearing position at the top side of the shoe.

6. A claim according to claim 5 in which the heel and toe pads are secured to the sock lining before the sock lining is stitched to` the sole.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,990,316 2/1935 Ansell et al 2-146 3,264,654 8/1966 Woronowicz et al 2-146 1,262,026 4/ 1918 Dillberg 12-142 2,3 14,1098 3 1943 McDonald 12-142 3,015,171 l/1962 Kaplan 36-9 3,345,762 10/ 1967 Fisher et al 36-9 PATRICK D. LAWSON, Primary Examiner U.S. Cl. X.R. 3 6-9 

